Professor Adam Lindgreen publishes new book on how corporate social responsibility is communicated in the digital era

Together with Joëlle Vanhamme, François Maon, and Rebecca Mardon, Professor Adam Lindgreen has edited a new research anthology: Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility in the Digital Era.

Although literature on corporate social responsibility is vast, research into the use and effectiveness of various communications through digital platforms about such corporate responsibility is scarce. This gap is surprising; communicating about corporate social responsibility initiatives is vital to organizations that increasingly highlight their corporate social responsibility initiatives to position their corporate brands for both consumers and other stakeholders. Yet these organizations still sometimes rely on traditional methods to communicate, or even decide against communicating at all, because they fear triggering stakeholders’ skepticism or cynicism. A systematic, interdisciplinary examination of corporate social responsibility communication through digital platforms therefore is necessary, to establish an essential definition and up-to-date picture of the field.

Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility in the Digital Era addresses the above objectives. Drawing on marketing, management, and communication disciplines, among others, this anthology examines how organizations construct, implement, and use digital platforms to communicate about their corporate social responsibility and thereby achieve their organizational goals. The 21 chapters in this anthology reflect six main topic sections:
•    Challenges and opportunities for communicating corporate social responsibility through digital platforms.
•    Moving toward symmetry and interactivity in digital corporate social responsibility communication.
•    Fostering stakeholder engagement in and through digital corporate social responsibility communication.
•    Leveraging effective digital corporate social responsibility communication.
•    Digital activism and corporate social responsibility.
•    Digital methodologies and corporate social responsibility.

The research anthology has been endorsed by leading academics in the field:

“This is an excellent addition to the literature of communication surrounding corporate social responsibility in our digital age. It is an important pioneering work allowing authors with diverse disciplinary backgrounds to describe the state of the art (and science) in all its dimensions and what that state could and should look like in the future. Kudos are warranted for the editors and their contributors.” Professpr Alex C. Michalos, University of Northern British Columbia, Canada.

“There is a continuous need to explore how organizations are communicating their socially responsible and sustainable behaviors to stakeholders. Therefore, this book provides a comprehensive guide to the extant theoretical underpinnings and empirical studies on corporate sustainability, social responsibility and ubiquitous digital media. I strongly recommend this book to academia and advanced undergraduate students in business and communications.” Dr. Mark Anthony Camilleri, University of Malta.

“This timely book contains cutting-edge thinking at the confluence of two virtually seismic forces transforming global business today: corporate social responsibility and digital media. Together, the twenty-one contributions from scholars worldwide not only edify the reader on the nuts and bolts of effective CSR communication in today’s hyper-connected media-saturated world but also challenge her to harness wisely the power of digital media in saving, literally, our planet and its people. In that, it is essential reading for every forward-looking business scholar and practitioner keen on optimizing business as a force for good.” Professor Sankar Sen, Zicklin School of Business, USA.